First, let me say that this was our third cruise, our first with NCL. Our previous cruises were with Carnival to the Caribbean. The thought of not having a set dining time appealed to my and DH, so I decided to give NCL a try. I think there are some things that NCL does very well, but I am not sure I will try them again unless there are some improvements - especially in the dining situation.
We arrived in Seattle on Friday evening before our cruise and spent Saturday at the Space Needle and the Experience Music Project. The Mariners were in town that night, so we decided to check out the ball park. Had a great time.
On Sunday, we ate breakfast at the hotel (Hotel Andra) and had Shuttle Express take us to the pier (by the way, Shuttle Express is great - had them pick us up and take us to the airport as well as back and forth from the pier - very reliable and prompt). We got to the pier at about 11:00 and checked right in. Very easy. After checking in, we sat in the waiting room until our number was called at about noon.